Assembly machine



Feb. 25, 1958 J. E. s. THOMPSON 2,824,4$4

ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Sept. 10, 1953 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNVENTUR .JA [IKE 5 THD/v/PSUN BY JF Feb. 25, 1958 J. E. s. THOMPSON ASSEMBLY MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 10. 1953 .JA CK E. 5, THUMF'SUN 1958 J. E. s. THOMPSON 2,824,4

' ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Sept, 10, 19,5 3 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 //v VEN TUR ATTDR'NEY ASSEMBLY MACHINE Jack E. S. Thompson, Independence, MO., assignor to Remington Arms Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application September 10, 1953, Serial No. 379,363

Claims. (Cl. 86-45) This invention relates to a device for handling a sequence of elongated hollow tapered articles from a column formation into a line or side-by-side formation, dropping a component into each of the articles so positioned, and delivering the sub-assembly.

More specifically, the invention contemplates a device for receiving a column of tapered bullet jackets in which the nose of each succeeding jacket nests within the heel of a preceding jacket, holding each jacket in turn to free its nose portion from the preceding jacket, arranging a sequence of jackets in line open-end-up, and dropping into each jacket in turn a self-sustaining component. The added component may be a slug of lead or other metal or a pre-compressed pellet of a granular material such as the incendiary composition which is placed in the nose of armor piercing incendiary bullets, or an inert filler material which is placed in the nose of ball bullets for the purpose of securing ballistics comparable with the ballistics of armor piercing incendiary bullets.

in the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a portion of Fig. 1, showing the escapement and transfer devices in jacket delivering position.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view, partly in section, the section being substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation, substantially on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged longitudinal sectional elevation showing the positive displacement of the lowermost jacket in the column with respect to the following jacket.

The machine is designed for attachment to a bullet assembly press of the well-known type by means of a bracket 10, which bracket carries a channel block comprising a base 11, front plate 12, rear plate 13 and end plates 14 and 15; said front and rear plates defining a channel 16 of such width as to receive the diameter of the jackets or workpieces W. Workpieces are delivered into channel 16 one-at-a-time from a tubular member 17 extending upwardly therefrom and communicating with a tubular passage 18, preferably of flexible constructicn, in which the jackets are received from a conventional type of hopper device (not shown). Within the channel 16 is a jacket feed block 19 eccentrically connected through a crank 20 to a disk 21 which is rotated by any suitable source of power, not shown. The rectilinear movement of feed block 19 in the channel is slightly greater than the outside diameter of a jacket, and in its retracted position the feed block clears the exit from tubular member 17. Spring-urged detents 22 projecting into the channel from one wall thereof serve to maintain the jackets in upright position, supported by their tapered and closed ends on the bottom wall of the channel.

The means for delivering jackets one at a time from tubular member 17 to a position within channel 16 in front of the feed block comprises escapement devices car- 2,824,484 Patented 25,

ried by lever23 pivoted at 24 and provided with a rounded head 25 which is received in a cut-out in the feed block. Slidably held in an aperture adjacent the upper end of lever 23 is a plunger 26 provided with a head 27 adapted to project through a slot 28 in tubular member 17 into engagement with ajacket or workpiece W. Said head is urged toward the workpiece by suitable means such as a spring 29 compressed between the side oflever 23 and the head 27. vA similar plunger 30, having .a head 31 and spring 32, projects from lever 23 at a point below the pivot 24, extending through a slot 33 in the tubular passage and being adapted to engage the nose portion of the lowermost jacket in the passage. Fig. 1 shows the feed block in advanced position with the plunger head 31 in engagement with the nose portion of the lowermost jacket in tubular member 17 and supporting the entire column-of jackets. In this posi tion of the escapement, plunger head 27 does not engage a jacket with suflicient force to obstruct its downward movement. .As the feed block 19 is retracted, lever 23 is rocked about pivot 24, withdrawing plunger 30 and advancing plunger 26 relative to the tube and the jackets therein. It will be noted that in the Fig. 1 position the lower margin of plunger head 27 stands in close juxtaposition to the heel or open end of the lowermost jacket ('Fig. '5) and that, due to the angular position of said plunger head with respect to pivot 24, the clockwise (Fig. 1) rocking of lever 23 moves head 27 both inwardly and downwardly, bringing this head against the .heel of the lowermost jacket and positively forcing said jacket downwardly and away from the jacket immediately above it, which jacket at the same time comes to be supported by the head 27. Simultaneously, head 31 of the lowermost escapement plunger 30 is withdrawn to enable the lowermost jacket to drop into channel 16 in front of feed block 19, as shown in Fig. 2, said jacket being held in upright position even in the absence of a line of jackets in front of it by a pair of the aforementioned detents 22. Upon the return of feed block and escapement from the Fig. 2 position to the Fig. 1 position, the jacket which in Fig. 2 position is supported by the upper plunger head 27 is released therefrom and drops into a position in which it is supported by the lower plunger head 31.

Means are provided for loosely placing in each jacket in transit through channel 16 a component (to be subsequently pressed into place in the jacket) and to utilize the movement of the line of jackets in the channel as a source of movement for the component delivery devices. To this end, one side wall of channel 16 is slotted through to receive the peripheral portion of a star wheel 34 carried on a stud shaft 35. The star wheel is so formed and projects into the channel in such a manner that the periphery of each jacket in the channel in turn is embraced by a semi-cylindrical cut-out or notch 36 in the star wheel to efiect an intermittent movement of the star wheel as the jackets are intermittently advanced through the channel. Secured to the stub shaft 35 is a disk 37 comprising a series of circumferentially disposed apertures 38 in radial alignment respectively with notches 36 and adapted to in turn come into alignment with the succession of jackets in the channel as each jacket is advanced to a predetermined position. Disk 37 occupies a recess in a lower housing block 39 provided with an aperture 40, establishing communication between the disk apertures 38 and the jackets in a predetermined position.

The components to be placed in the jackets are rigid symmetrical bodies of predetermined dimensions corresponding to the thickness of disk 37, such as lead shot or pro-compressed pellets of inert, incendiary or explosive composition. One such pellet is dropped into each disk aperture in turn from a tubular member 41, into which pellets are introduced from a suitable hopper (not shown). No escapement to control the delivery of pellets to the diskapertures 38 is required, since the vertical dimension of each pellet is substantially equal to the thickness of disk 37. As' each disk aperture in turn comes into alignment with a passage through upper housing block 42 communicating with tube 41, a pellet is dropped into the 'disk aperture, coming to rest upon the upper surface of the cut-out in lower housing block 39, and in the intermittent rotation of disk 37 is transferred across said surface until it reaches the aperture 40 through which it'drops into the aligned jacket below. The assemblies of jacket and pellet thereafter proceed to the end of the channel 16 where they escape through an aperture 43 in the bottom plate 17, it being contemplated that they will be'received in the feed' devices of a bullet assembly machine in which they are assembled with other components of a finished bullet.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for forming a line of rearwardly open, forwardly tapered articles from a column of such articles in nestingflrelation, comprising a tubular passage having an 'upper reduced diameter portion for maintaining said nested articles in axial alignment and a lower portion of greater diameter, an escapement mounted adjacent said passage for controlling delivery of articles one at a time into said lower portion of said passage and comprising a first member moveable into said lower portion of said passage to engage the lowermost article in said column, and a second member moveable into said upper portion of said channel to engage the adjacent article in said column, said first member displacing transversely said lowerfmost article from axial alignment with said adjacent wheel mounted in said channel block and projecting into said channel for engagement with and rotation by articles in said channel assaid articles are displaced by said feed block.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, comprising means for transferring a self-sustaining body of material into alignment with an'article in said channel, said transferring means being actuated by said star Wheel.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which said transferring means comprises a disk mounted for rotation in synchronism with said star wheel, said disk comprising circumferentially disposed material receiving apertures.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 203,731 Hill May 14, 1878 1,275,581 Macomber Aug. 13, 1918 2,523,278 Carl Sept. 26, 1950 2,525,765 Betge -l .c Oct. 17, 1950 2,540,059 Stirn et al. Ian. 30, 1951 2,558,633

Tuttle June 26, 1951 

